Captive cap for receptacles



June 30, 1959 A. FAINI Filed July '9, 1958 FIG I 10 //T\ Hill IVIH FIG?) 26 l4 l8 IO 1 I'll H! 1 [LL] l2 INVENTOR ALBERT FAINI ATTORNEY CAPTIVE CAP FOR RECEPTACLES Albert Faini, Framingham, Mass. Application July 9, 1958, Serial No. 747,460 6 Claims. (Cl. 220-305) This invention relates to captive caps, particularly for the screw threaded necks of ordinary receptacles such as tooth paste tubes, or the like.

The principal object of the present invention resides in the provision of a cap comprising a pair of spaced concentric walls forming a hollow or annular space between them, the outer wall having an inturned end flange and the inner wall having an out-turned end flange, these flanges being spaced and receiving between them the threaded neck of the container, the inturned flange being distorted in a manner to provide for cooperative engagement thereof with the threads on the neck of the container for screwing the cap up and down on the neck; and the neck of the container being provided with a fixed, extending headed element which is bent outwardly and which is received in the hollow space between the two walls aforesaid; the head however on this element having a size and shape so that it cannot be removed from between the inturned and out-turned flanges above described, but still at the same time does not impede the easy screwing action of the cap on the neck, said cap when completely unscrewed from the neck being tiltable to one side so as not to impede the issuance of material from the container through the neck, while still being held by the headed element.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation showing the cap open;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the cap closed;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section through the cap and the neck of the container;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the cap;

Fig. 5 is a view in elevation looking in the direction of arrow 5 of Fig. l, the cap being removed; and

Fig. 6 is a view in elevation partly in section showing the cap and its relation to the headed element when the receptacle is open.

In carrying out the present invention the same has been shown as applied to the externally screw threaded neck 10 of a conventional container 12 which may be a jar, tube, bottle or any other kind of container. As shown in Figs. 3 and 6, this screw threaded neck is provided with a small element 14 which extends therefrom and has an enlarged head 16, the enlarged head 16 being tilted over so that it extends generally parallel to the neck, see Fig. 5. Otherwise, the container and the threaded neck 10 are conventional.

The cap is indicated generally at 18, and comprises, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, a cylindrical outer wall 20 and a spaced concentric cylindrical inner wall 22, these walls forming therebetween a cylindrical hollow space indicated at 24.

These Walls are connected at the top of the cap by a closure 26, this closure preferably being integral with the two walls above described. At the end of the cap 18 opposite closure '26 the same is open centrally of the 2,892,565 Patented June 30, 1959 cylindrical wall 22, and it is also open between the two walls 20 and 22. Wall 20 is provided with a generally circular inturned flange 28 and the wall 22 is provided with a generally circular out-turned flange 30. As shown, these flanges extend toward each other but are spaced apart so as to just receive between them the cylindrical threaded neck 10 which extends into the space 24.

As shown in Fig. 4, the inturned flange 28 is preferably divided or slotted at 32, 32, and the leading ends bent in such a manner as to provide more or less spiral members for threaded engagement with the external threads on the neck 10. This construction provides for the cap 18 being screwed on and off with relation to the neck.

Although the cap as described may be screwed up and down on the neck 10, it cannot be removed therefrom due to the fact that when the cap is completely removed from the neck, it is still attached thereto by means of the head 16 as is clearly apparent upon inspection of Fig. 6. The head 16 is wide enough to extend over the inner aspects of both of the flanges 28 and 30 and thus the cap is loosely held to the head 16 but may be removed completely from neck 10 to allow the exit of material from the container. Of course when it is desired to close the container, the cap 18 is merely pivoted around in a counter clockwise direction, see Fig. 6, to a point where wall 22 extends inside the neck 10, and flange 28 engages with the exterior threads on the neck so that the cap is then rotatable to move downwardly to the Fig. 3 position to completely close the container.

It will be seen that this invention provides a cap which cannot become lost and which at the same time is applied to and removed from a conventional container neck having exterior threads more or less in the usual manner. Also, the cap appears like any other cap when it is in place on the container as shown in Fig. 2 and although the construction of the present invention is relatively simple, it provides a captive cap which is usable by anyone substantially in the normal manner of using the caps found on commercial containers in the prior art.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with a receptacle having an exteriorly threaded neck and a cap, of means to return the cap captive to the neck, said means comprising a headed member fixed to the neck, means forming a hollow inside the cap, said hollow receiving the member in both operative and inoperative positions of the cap to close the receptacle, and means on the cap adjacent the hollow forming an abutment for the head of the member in inoperative position of the cap, retaining the cap on the neck in unobstructive position relative to the neck.

2. The combination with a receptacle having an exteriorly threaded neck and a cap, of means to return the cap captive to the neck, said means comprising a headed member fixed to the neck, means forming a hollow inside the cap, said hollow receiving the member in both operative and inoperative positions of the cap to close the receptacle, and means on the cap adjacent the hollow forming an abutment for the head of the member in inoperative position of the cap, retaining the cap on the neck in unobstructive position relative to the neck, said abutment also forming means selectively threadedly engaged with the threads on the neck for opening and closing the neck by rotating the cap on the neck.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said hollow is annular and the headed member is located in extension of the neck at the open end thereof.

4. The combination of claim 2 wherein said means forming a hollow comprises an outer cylindrical wall and a concentric spaced inner wall.

5. The combination of claim 2 wherein said means forming a hollow comprises an outer cylindrical wall and v 4 a concentric spaced inner wall, and the abutment is engaging the inside oi the neck when the inturned flange formed by an inturned flange on the outer wall. is engaged with the threads.

6. The combination of claim 2 wherein said means m n ho cg p s a r y i d al e lan References Cited in the file of this patent a concentric spacecl innen wall, and the abutment is 5 idrmed by an inturned flang e on the outer wall, thereibe- UNITED STATES PATENTS ing an outturned flange on the inner wall snbstantially 1,530,763 De Cardy Mar. 24, 1925 

